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119-701: The Tharu people are an ethnic group indigenous to the Terai in southern Nepal and northern India . They speak Tharu languages . They are recognized as an official nationality by the Government of Nepal . In the Indian Terai, they live foremost in Uttarakhand , Uttar Pradesh and Bihar . The Government of India recognizes the Tharu people as a scheduled Indian tribe . The word थारू ( thāru )

238-484: A Hindu monarchy , was a Hindu nation which has now become a secular state . On 28 May 2008, it was declared a republic, ending the period of the Hindu kingdom . The ancient tribes living around the northern territory of modern Nepal seem to have been less influenced by the fourfold Varna system of Hinduism. Instead, nature worship, shamanism and ancestor worship was more common in sync with Tibetan spirituality among

357-466: A federal Nepal, emphasising equality of opportunity and equal distribution of land and resources. In 2009, Tharu people across the Nepal Terai protested against the government's attempt to categorise them as Madheshi people . The Tharu people comprise several groups who speak different dialects and differ in traditional dress, customs, rituals and social organization. They consider themselves as

476-504: A host of men, a band of comrades as well as a swarm or flock of animals. In Classical Greek , the word took on a meaning comparable to the concept now expressed by "ethnic group", mostly translated as " nation , tribe, a unique people group"; only in Hellenistic Greek did the term tend to become further narrowed to refer to "foreign" or " barbarous " nations in particular (whence the later meaning "heathen, pagan"). In

595-416: A National Legal Code (Muluki Ain) was proclaimed that laid out detailed codes for inter-caste behavior and specified punishments for their infringement. Although caste or tribe based hierarchy has been a hallmark for all ethnicities of Nepal, only three societies traditionally were part of the four Varna concept of social division and hierarchy. These societies/ethnicities were: Khas/Parbatiya and Newars in

714-421: A focus on the interface between groups. "Ethnic Groups and Boundaries", therefore, is a focus on the interconnectedness of ethnic identities. Barth writes: "...   categorical ethnic distinctions do not depend on an absence of mobility, contact, and information, but do entail social processes of exclusion and incorporation whereby discrete categories are maintained despite changing participation and membership in

833-503: A layer of white clay to it and use natural colours to give them a facelift. Denhari is a traditional earthen vessel used to store food grains. It is made by using loamy clay, paddy straw and rice husk and has a round, rectangular or conical shapes. It is mostly made by females and mostly used to store paddy, wheat, rice, maize, lentils and mustard seeds. The vessel is also an integral part of religious festival and cultural activities. Sikki grass crafts are various handicrafts made from

952-453: A life that kept them isolated in their own localities. They developed a unique culture free from the influence of adjacent India, or from the ethnic groups in Nepal's mountains. The most striking aspects of their environment are the decorated rice containers, colorfully painted verandahs and outer walls of their homes using only available materials like clay , mud , cow dung and grass. Much of

1071-503: A mercurial character. Ronald Cohen concluded that ethnicity is "a series of nesting dichotomizations of inclusiveness and exclusiveness". He agrees with Joan Vincent's observation that (in Cohen's paraphrase) "Ethnicity   ... can be narrowed or broadened in boundary terms in relation to the specific needs of political mobilization." This may be why descent is sometimes a marker of ethnicity, and sometimes not: which diacritic of ethnicity

1190-459: A people of the forest. In Chitwan, they have lived in the forests for hundreds of years practising a short fallow shifting cultivation . They plant rice , wheat , mustard , maize and lentils , but also collect forest products such as wild fruits, vegetables, medicinal plants and materials to build their houses; hunt deer , rabbit and wild boar , and go fishing in the rivers and oxbow lakes. The Rana Tharus never went abroad for employment,

1309-519: A preoccupation with scientists, theologians, and the public. Religious institutions asked questions about whether there had been multiple creations of races (polygenesis) and whether God had created lesser races. Many of the foremost scientists of the time took up the idea of racial difference and found that white Europeans were superior. The ethnicity theory was based on the assimilation model. Park outlined four steps to assimilation: contact, conflict, accommodation, and assimilation. Instead of attributing

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1428-412: A process known as ethnogenesis, a period of several generations of endogamy resulting in common ancestry (which is then sometimes cast in terms of a mythological narrative of a founding figure ); ethnic identity is reinforced by reference to "boundary markers" – characteristics said to be unique to the group which set it apart from other groups. Ethnicity theory argues that race

1547-742: A shared cultural heritage , ancestry, origin myth , history , homeland , language , dialect , religion, mythology , folklore , ritual , cuisine , dressing style , art , or physical appearance . Ethnic groups may share a narrow or broad spectrum of genetic ancestry, depending on group identification, with some groups having mixed genetic ancestry. By way of assimilation , acculturation , amalgamation , language shift , intermarriage , adoption , and religious conversion , individuals or groups may over time shift from one ethnic group to another. Ethnic groups may be divided into subgroups or tribes , which over time may become separate ethnic groups themselves due to endogamy or physical isolation from

1666-418: A special kind of grass known as sikki or moonj grass . Sikki baskets known as Dhakiya, Mauni or Daliya depending upon the place are baskets made from sikki or moonj grass plays an important role in everyday household activities of the Tharu community. They are also used in every rituals of Tharu community from the birth to death. The spiritual beliefs and moral values of the Tharu people are closely linked to

1785-519: A stand-in for "paganism" in the 18th century, but now came to express the meaning of an "ethnic character" (first recorded 1953). The term ethnic group was first recorded in 1935 and entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1972. Depending on context, the term nationality may be used either synonymously with ethnicity or synonymously with citizenship (in a sovereign state). The process that results in emergence of an ethnicity

1904-457: A staple food for ages. Dhikri is a popular western Tharu dish which is prepared by making a dough with warm water and rice flour and is eaten with spicy chutney . Bagiya is similar to dhikri but is popular among eastern Tharus and consists of an external covering of rice flour and an inner content of sweet substances such like chaku , vegetables and other fried items. Bhakkha is a fluffy rice cake popular among Tharus of eastern Nepal and

2023-420: A variant of Bhojpuri . In eastern Nepal, they speak a variant of Maithili . More standard versions of these dialects are widely spoken by non-Tharu neighbors in the same areas so that there are no important linguistic barriers between Tharus and their neighbors. However, there are linguistic barriers between these dialects standing in the way of communication between Tharus from different regions. Sakhiya dance

2142-548: Is a group of people who identify with each other on the basis of perceived shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include a people of a common language , culture , common sets of ancestry , traditions , society, religion , history, or social treatment. The term ethnicity is sometimes used interchangeably with the term nation , particularly in cases of ethnic nationalism . Ethnicity may be construed as an inherited or societally imposed construct. Ethnic membership tends to be defined by

2261-443: Is a social category and is only one of several factors in determining ethnicity. Other criteria include "religion, language, 'customs', nationality, and political identification". This theory was put forward by sociologist Robert E. Park in the 1920s. It is based on the notion of "culture". This theory was preceded by more than 100 years during which biological essentialism was the dominant paradigm on race. Biological essentialism

2380-545: Is a traditional dance of Tharu community performed during the Dashain and Tihar festivals by the unmarried young girls and boys. Lathi Nach , also known as Tharu stick dance is a cultural dance mainly performed during the Dashain festival. Laathi Nach has become a popular tourist attraction in Nepal, particularly Chitwan District . Ashtimki Chitra is a type of painting drawn on the day of Ashtimki festival celebrated by

2499-425: Is a typical style of painting the outer walls and verandas of homes in colourful forms in eastern Nepal . The artists, mostly women, make a mixture of clay and jute or mixture of clay , rice bran and cow dung , depending upon the district, and layers of the mixture are applied to the walls depicting floral and geometric patterns including birds and animals among many other motifs. When the design dries, they apply

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2618-495: Is also that the name is derived from the classical Tibetan words mtha'-ru'i brgyud , meaning the 'country at the border', which the Tibetan scholar Taranatha used in the 16th century in his book on the history of Buddhism. In 2009, the majority of Tharu people were estimated to live in Nepal. There are several endogamous subgroups of Tharu that are scattered over most of the Terai : Smaller numbers of Tharu people reside in

2737-573: Is around 5%, but its occupancy in the civil service is more than one-third (33.2%), although vast majority of this share comes from the minority upper-caste segments of the Chathariya and Panchthariya Shrestha Newars. Upper-caste Newars remain the most over-represented community in terms of socio-political access. The population of Khas-Chhetris constitutes 17.6% but its participation is mere 14.7%. If these major three communities (upper-caste Khas (Bahun & Chhetri) and upper-caste Newars (Shresthas) or

2856-423: Is called ethnogenesis , a term in use in ethnological literature since about 1950. The term may also be used with the connotation of something unique and unusually exotic (cf. "an ethnic restaurant", etc.), generally related to cultures of more recent immigrants, who arrived after the dominant population of an area was established. Depending on which source of group identity is emphasized to define membership,

2975-420: Is called ethnogenesis. Members of an ethnic group, on the whole, claim cultural continuities over time, although historians and cultural anthropologists have documented that many of the values, practices, and norms that imply continuity with the past are of relatively recent invention. Ethnic groups can form a cultural mosaic in a society. That could be in a city like New York City or Trieste , but also

3094-655: Is not a noun in Britain. In effect there are no "ethnics"; there are only "ethnic relations". In the U.S., the OMB says the definition of race as used for the purposes of the US Census is not "scientific or anthropological" and takes into account "social and cultural characteristics as well as ancestry", using "appropriate scientific methodologies" that are not "primarily biological or genetic in reference". Sometimes ethnic groups are subject to prejudicial attitudes and actions by

3213-407: Is one of the most important Tharu festivals. They fast or keep “ vrata ” for the welfare of their children. Eastern Tharus celebrate Saama Chakeva in the month of Kartik to honour the relationship between brothers and sisters. The sisters make clay statuettes of Shama, Chakewa, Sathbhainya, Chugala and a dog among others. Atwari is a sacred festival observed by western Tharus predominantly in

3332-484: Is responsible for the family's social activities and has to report income and expenditures annually to the family. When families were forced to resettle, some of these Badaghar households broke up into smaller units of up to six households. Tharu people in Rajapur, Nepal are either landholders, cultivate land on a sharecropping basis or are landless agricultural labourers. Tharu people celebrate Maghe Sankranti on

3451-442: Is salient depends on whether people are scaling ethnic boundaries up or down, and whether they are scaling them up or down depends generally on the political situation. Kanchan Chandra rejects the expansive definitions of ethnic identity (such as those that include common culture, common language, common history and common territory), choosing instead to define ethnic identity narrowly as a subset of identity categories determined by

3570-431: Is the belief that some races, specifically white Europeans in western versions of the paradigm, are biologically superior and other races, specifically non-white races in western debates, are inherently inferior. This view arose as a way to justify enslavement of African Americans and genocide of Native Americans in a society that was officially founded on freedom for all. This was a notion that developed slowly and came to be

3689-686: Is the inclusion of previously non-Hindu tribes "Adivasi Janajati" groups, as well as non-Nepalis including Muslims and Europeans into the hierarchical fold. Hierarchies of Major Caste/Ethnic Groups in Nepal according to Muluki Ain: Newar – Brahmin and Chatharīya Srēstha ; Terai – Brahmin (referred in the code as Indian/Desi Brahmin) (no mention of Terai Kshatriya groups) Gurkha clans - Gurung , Magar , Kirat ( Rai and Limbu ) Mlechha : Muslims and Europeans Terai occupational castes – Dhobi, Halkhor, Chamar, Dushad, Dom, Musahars, etc. Newar lowest occupational castes – Dom, Podhya, Chyamaha/Chandala, etc. The social values preached by

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3808-463: Is thought to be derived from sthavir meaning follower of Theravada Buddhism . The Tharu people in the central Nepali Terai see themselves as the original people of the land and descendants of Gautama Buddha . Rana Tharu people of western Nepal connect the name to the Thar Desert and understand themselves as descendants of Rajputs who migrated to the forests in the 16th century. Possible

3927-512: Is usually eaten with freshly made chutney or achaar. Sidhara is a mixture of taro root, dried fish and turmeric that is formed into cakes and dried for preservation. The cakes are broken up and cooked with radish, chili, garlic and other spices to accompany boiled rice.Another short compendium of Tharu recipes includes roasted crab, wheat flatbread fried in mustard oil, and fried taro leaf cakes. Drinking and offering home-made alcohols which are also known as Jaar, Raksi or Chhaang are one of

4046-463: The Caribbean and South Asia . Max Weber maintained that ethnic groups were künstlich (artificial, i.e. a social construct ) because they were based on a subjective belief in shared Gemeinschaft (community). Secondly, this belief in shared Gemeinschaft did not create the group; the group created the belief. Third, group formation resulted from the drive to monopolize power and status. This

4165-576: The Chaubisi principality, Ram Shah (1609-1636) is noted to have introduced some rules and regulations about relations between different groups of people in the Gorkha kingdom too. As the Shah rulers conquered more territories and people, the concept of caste hierarchy more firmly applied as an organizing principle to consolidate diverse people under their authority. In 1854, early in the period of Rana rule,

4284-611: The Nepalese Civil War , Tharu people experienced an intense period of violence, were recruited by and coerced to help the Maoists, especially in western Nepal; several Tharu leaders were assassinated and infrastructure of the Tharu organisation Backward Society Education destroyed. After the Comprehensive Peace Accord was signed in 2006, Tharu organisations postulated an autonomous Tharu state within

4403-455: The New World were multi-ethnic from the onset, as they were formed as colonies imposed on existing indigenous populations. In recent decades, feminist scholars (most notably Nira Yuval-Davis) have drawn attention to the fundamental ways in which women participate in the creation and reproduction of ethnic and national categories. Though these categories are usually discussed as belonging to

4522-513: The Turkic peoples who had similar features as them, like slanting eyes, snub noses, high cheek bones, yellow complexion of the Mongols and who spoke a different language than in the rest of the subcontinent. Following the unification of Nepal in the late 18th century, members of the ruling families received land grants in the Terai and were entitled to collect revenue from those who cultivated

4641-676: The malarial parts of the Terai that were deadly to outsiders. Contemporary medical research comparing Tharu with other ethnic groups living nearby found an incidence of malaria nearly seven times lower among Tharu. The researchers believed such a large difference pointed to genetic factors rather than behavioural or dietary differences. This was confirmed by follow-up investigation finding genes for thalassemia in nearly all Tharu studied. Tharu people have limited, not complete, immunity to malaria. Many Tharus, particularly babies, died from malaria. Ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group

4760-544: The 'BCN' combine their shares in the Government of Nepal, civil service employment is 89.2% in 1991. Their dominance is reflected in education, administration and economical activities of the nation. Among those 73.8% in higher education belong to the BCN, 22.0% Janajatis and 2.9% Dalit. They have become major decision makers in the bureaucracy of Nepal has become crystal clear. In terms of earning/income generation, Newars have

4879-569: The 19th century, the term came to be used in the sense of "peculiar to a tribe, race, people or nation", in a return to the original Greek meaning. The sense of "different cultural groups", and in American English "tribal, racial, cultural or national minority group " arises in the 1930s to 1940s, serving as a replacement of the term race which had earlier taken this sense but was now becoming deprecated due to its association with ideological racism . The abstract ethnicity had been used as

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4998-655: The CBS recorded 43 caste-origin Hindu groups in the Madhesh . Caste prejudice is far less prevalent in cities nowadays, although nothing has changed in rural regions. As a result of occupational changes, increased education, their own efforts to emulate the upper castes and consolidation of political power, urban Dalits in the Terai have moved up in status. The National Report says, "Over the last 15-20 years, three groups, namely Sudi, Kalwar and Teli have socially upgraded their status from

5117-674: The Chathariya Shrestha who formed the new powerful aristocratic caste of the Malla kingdom. Hence, the present Newar society's foundation firmly stands on this restructuring by Malla as Newar society continues to comprise the 4 varna and 64 different caste groups which were hierarchically allotted in Jayasthiti Malla's time according to the classical and religious Hindu scriptures like the Manusmriti. Gorkha king of

5236-583: The Gangetic plains of India, and seems more closer to pre-Buddhist Shamanistic Bon practice of Tibet . The earliest detailed record of the caste system in Nepal has been found in Kathmandu Valley from the 5th century CE during the Licchavi period (400-750 CE) with mentions of the presence of Brahmans (Vedic priests) and Chandala (untouchables). The existing caste structure as introduced by

5355-610: The Greeks. Herodotus (8.144.2) gave a famous account of what defined Greek (Hellenic) ethnic identity in his day, enumerating Whether ethnicity qualifies as a cultural universal is to some extent dependent on the exact definition used. Many social scientists, such as anthropologists Fredrik Barth and Eric Wolf , do not consider ethnic identity to be universal. They regard ethnicity as a product of specific kinds of inter-group interactions, rather than an essential quality inherent to human groups. According to Thomas Hylland Eriksen ,

5474-474: The Hindu State. In recent years a smaller number of Tharu people have converted to Christianity particularly after the rise of democracy in 1990. Traditionally, Rana Tharus practice arranged marriages , which parents often arrange already during the couple's childhood. The wedding ceremony is held when the bride and groom reach marriable age. The ceremony lasts several days, involving all the relatives of

5593-689: The Janajati has 32.0% (excluding Newars) of the total population of the country, has representation of 7.1%. In terms of education, 88.0% of Khas Brahmins & Chhetris, and Newars have access to school, 12.0% have never been to school. More than fifty (52.0%) of Hill Dalits, 47.0% of the Tarai Dalits, 48.0% of the Muslims and 30 percent of the Hill Adivasi Janajatis have never been to school.(Census, 2001) In recent times, following

5712-517: The Lichhavis was later fundamentally restructured during the reign of King Jayasthiti Malla (1380-1394). This restructuring was a result of over a millennia of newer Aryan immigrants from the plains since the time of the Lichchavis. Series of Aryan migration to Kathmandu led to increased population and formation of a complex urban and caste-based society. Among them, most notable migration was

5831-532: The Muluki Ain, however, were providing restrictive, anachronic and out of step with the spirit of times. These values were seen as a potent instrument of Rana political repression. After the Rana regime, caste rules relating to food, drink and intercaste marriage were openly louted but the Muluki Ain had not been abrogated. In 1963, Legal Code was replaced by New 1964 Legal Code. The legal recognition to caste and all

5950-590: The Rana Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana, making Chhetris the most populous caste/tribe of Nepal. The mother tongue of these groups is Kumaoni, Nepali and its dialects like Baitadeli and Doteli. In 2001 the CBS recorded only nine groups in the caste-origin Hill Hindu groups. The case of Newār is exceptional. This group presents a complicated social structure that not only reflects the model of four Hindu varna categories and

6069-541: The Sino-Tibetan groups. Even Khas /Parbatiyas who are today overwhelmingly consolidated into the four Varna structure, have been following Masto tradition since ancient times whereby Masta tutelary deities known as bange-masta, bahiramasta, thado-masta, bahra-masta, athahra-masta are invoked and worshipped. This form of Masto worship among the Khasas is apparently not related to any Vedic scriptures and tradition of

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6188-458: The Tharus in the western region of Nepal using home-made colors made from red clay (red), bean leaves (green) and burnt wild grass (black). The painting depicts the story of evolution. The main components of the painting are Kanha (Krishna) , a kadam tree, a boat, fish, crabs, tortoise, monkeys and other animals, a ten headed demon ( Ravana ), Pandava , Draupadi , a sun and a moon. Mokha art

6307-525: The United States that the ethnicity theory was exclusively based on the immigration patterns of the white population and did take into account the unique experiences of non-whites in the United States. While Park's theory identified different stages in the immigration process – contact, conflict, struggle, and as the last and best response, assimilation – it did so only for white communities. The ethnicity paradigm neglected

6426-994: The added value of being able to describe the commonalities between systems of group identity in both tribal and modern societies. Cohen also suggested that claims concerning "ethnic" identity (like earlier claims concerning "tribal" identity) are often colonialist practices and effects of the relations between colonized peoples and nation-states. According to Paul James , formations of identity were often changed and distorted by colonization, but identities are not made out of nothing: Categorizations about identity, even when codified and hardened into clear typologies by processes of colonization, state formation or general modernizing processes, are always full of tensions and contradictions. Sometimes these contradictions are destructive, but they can also be creative and positive. Social scientists have thus focused on how, when, and why different markers of ethnic identity become salient. Thus, anthropologist Joan Vincent observed that ethnic boundaries often have

6545-592: The adjacent Indian districts Champaran in Bihar , Gorakhpur , Basti and Gonda districts in Uttar Pradesh , and Khatima in Uttarakhand . As of 2011, the Tharu population in Nepal was censused at 1,737,470 people, or 6.6% of the total population. The percentage of Tharu people by province was as follows: The percentage of Tharu people was higher than national average (6.6%) in the following districts: According to Alberuni , Tharu people have been living in

6664-570: The advent of later Malla and Chathariya/ Kshatriya and their Maithil Brahmins and others like the Khadgis (butchers), Dobhi , among others, with conquest of Karnat kingdom in 1324 CE by Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq , the founder of the Tughlaq dynasty and Sultan of Delhi. Jayasthiti Malla's restructuring also converted celibate Buddhist monks to householder status and inside the hierarchic fold for

6783-449: The belief of common descent. Jóhanna Birnir similarly defines ethnicity as "group self-identification around a characteristic that is very difficult or even impossible to change, such as language, race, or location." Different approaches to understanding ethnicity have been used by different social scientists when trying to understand the nature of ethnicity as a factor in human life and society. As Jonathan M. Hall observes, World War II

6902-668: The boundaries of the nation-state. Caste system in Nepal The caste system defines social classes by a number of hierarchical endogamous groups often termed jaat . This custom was traditionally only prevalent in the three Indo Aryan societies of the Khas , Madhesi , and Newars . However, since the unification of Nepal in the 18th century, Nepal's various non-Hindu ethnic nationalities and tribes, previously called "Matwalis" (alcohol-drinkers) and now termed as "Adivasi/Janajati" (indigenous/nationalities), have been incorporated within

7021-503: The caste hierarchy to varying degrees of success. Despite the forceful integration by the state into the pan-Hindu social structure, the traditionally non-Hindu groups and tribes do not necessarily adhere to the customs and practices of the caste system. The Government of Nepal legally abolished and criminalized any caste-based discrimination, including " untouchability " (the ostracism of a specific caste) - in 1963. With Nepal's step towards freedom and equality, Nepal, previously ruled by

7140-444: The caste system to break its stagnancy and status quo. New divisions and differences have given rise to new antagonisms and social norms. Working-class persons in urban areas who must make a living by selling their labour power. Traditional caste barriers have been broken down as a result of such social mobility. In the rural context, the traditional subsistence agriculture system and age-old caste structure have significantly changed, and

7259-573: The context of European colonial expansion, when mercantilism and capitalism were promoting global movements of populations at the same time that state boundaries were being more clearly and rigidly defined. In the 19th century, modern states generally sought legitimacy through their claim to represent "nations". Nation-states , however, invariably include populations who have been excluded from national life for one reason or another. Members of excluded groups, consequently, will either demand inclusion based on equality or seek autonomy, sometimes even to

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7378-813: The core culture of Tharus. Genetic studies on Y-DNA of Tharu people from two villages in Chitwan district and one in Morang district revealed a high presence of Haplogroup O-M117 (33.3%) followed by Haplogroup H (25.7%), Haplogroup J2a-M410(xM68, M47, M67, M158) (9.9%), Haplogroup R1a (8.8%), Haplogroup R2a-M124 (4.7%), Haplogroup J2b2-M12/M102/M241(xM99) (4.1%), Haplogroup D-M174 (3.5%), Haplogroup L-M20 (2.3%), Haplogroup O-M95 (2.3%), Haplogroup E-M35 (1.8%), Haplogroup O-M134(xM117) (1.2%), Haplogroup Q-M242 (1.2%), Haplogroup C1b1a1-M356 (0.6%), and Haplogroup K-M9(xM70, M20, M214, M74) (0.6%). A genetic study on mtDNA of several Tharus in Nepal showed that

7497-476: The country that earlier had a political system associated with group-based discrimination. Certain outside analysts have suggested that "seeking a balance in approach requires addressing both specific indigenous historical injustices while creating a common citizenship for all marginalised citizens regardless of identity, which remains a particularly challenging issue for Nepal". According to Professor Madhusudan Subedi, economic and political advancements have pushed

7616-422: The course of individual life histories." In 1978, anthropologist Ronald Cohen claimed that the identification of "ethnic groups" in the usage of social scientists often reflected inaccurate labels more than indigenous realities: ... the named ethnic identities we accept, often unthinkingly, as basic givens in the literature are often arbitrarily, or even worse inaccurately, imposed. In this way, he pointed to

7735-526: The cultural traits of such groups have no demonstrated genetic connection with racial traits. Because serious errors of this kind are habitually committed when the term "race" is used in popular parlance, it would be better when speaking of human races to drop the term "race" altogether and speak of "ethnic groups". In 1982, anthropologist David Craig Griffith summed up forty years of ethnographic research, arguing that racial and ethnic categories are symbolic markers for different ways people from different parts of

7854-704: The discriminatory laws made on the grounds of caste were ceased. The caste system is still intact today but the rules are not as rigid as they were in the past. In 1963, a law (New Muluki Ain-1963) was passed making it illegal to discriminate against other castes led all castes to be equally treated by the law. Education is free and open to all castes. The caste system conjoints a structural class divide which persists, in which lower castes/ethnicities are generally socio-economically are not equal like those of higher castes/ethnicities. Recent research has also shown that when it comes to Nepali people's impressions of social change, "Poverty, Human Resources and Region" explain more of

7973-451: The distant past. Perspectives that developed after the 1960s increasingly viewed ethnic groups as social constructs , with identity assigned by societal rules. The term ethnic is ultimately derived from the Greek ethnos , through its adjectival form ethnikos , loaned into Latin as ethnicus . The inherited English language term for this concept is folk , used alongside

8092-452: The distinctions of ethnicity and race that function to set off categories of workers from one another. It is, nevertheless, the process of labor mobilization under capitalism that imparts to these distinctions their effective values. According to Wolf, racial categories were constructed and incorporated during the period of European mercantile expansion , and ethnic groupings during the period of capitalist expansion . Writing in 1977 about

8211-624: The eastern Terai since at least the 10th century. The Rana Tharus in western Nepal claim to be of Rajput origin and to have migrated from the Thar Desert in Rajasthan to Nepal's Far Western Terai region after the defeat of Maharana Pratap against a Mughal emperor in the 16th century. Some scholars refute this claim. Another claim posits that the Tharu people are descendants of the Shakya dynasty, who propagated Mahayana Buddhism in Nepal from

8330-592: The eradication of malaria, the U.S. government joined forces with the Nepali government in a project to build a new road, schools and health clinics, and distribute land to migrants from the hills. They invited Tharu people to take land but many Tharus preferred staying "voluntarily landless", as they worried that taking land would make them vulnerable to exploitation from Nepali governmental tax collectors and to attacks from wild animals. They preferred to stay as tenants for large Tharu landlords, who were often relatives. When

8449-530: The extent of complete political separation in their nation-state. Under these conditions   when people moved from one state to another, or one state conquered or colonized peoples beyond its national boundaries – ethnic groups were formed by people who identified with one nation but lived in another state. In the 1920s, Estonia introduced a flexible system of ethnicity/nationality self-choice for its citizens, which included Estonians Russians, Baltic Germans and Jews. Multi-ethnic states can be

8568-414: The fact that identification of an ethnic group by outsiders, e.g. anthropologists, may not coincide with the self-identification of the members of that group. He also described that in the first decades of usage, the term ethnicity had often been used in lieu of older terms such as "cultural" or "tribal" when referring to smaller groups with shared cultural systems and shared heritage, but that "ethnicity" had

8687-528: The fallen monarchy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire or the United States. Current topics are in particular social and cultural differentiation, multilingualism, competing identity offers, multiple cultural identities and the formation of Salad bowl and melting pot . Ethnic groups differ from other social groups, such as subcultures , interest groups or social classes , because they emerge and change over historical periods (centuries) in

8806-402: The first day of the Nepali month of Magh , usually around the middle of January. Depending on the location they call this day Magh, Maghi, Tila Sankranti, Kichhra and Khichdi. In the western region of Nepal, they celebrate Ashtimki on the day of Krishna Janmashtami . On this day, people of Tharu communities draw a special artwork known as Ashtimki Chitra made on the wall of the living room of

8925-557: The first protected areas were established in Chitwan, Tharu communities were forced to relocate from their traditional lands. They were denied any right to own land and thus forced into a situation of landlessness and poverty. When the Chitwan National Park was designated, Nepalese soldiers destroyed the villages located inside the national park, burned down houses, and beat the people who tried to plough their fields. Some threatened Tharu people at gun point to leave. After

9044-605: The first time to form the caste of Vajracharya and Shakya . It also solidified the supremacy of Kanyakubja Brahmin descendants like the Rajopadhyaya Brahmins over other priests like Maithil Brahmins. Karmacharyas and Joshis were all-together stripped off their Brahmin status by these new and arguably more well-read Brahmins, and assimilated them in the Kshatriya/Chathariya. The restructuring also yielded power to newly formed Malla aristocracy of

9163-596: The following types of (often mutually overlapping) groups can be identified: In many cases, more than one aspect determines membership: for instance, Armenian ethnicity can be defined by Armenian citizenship, having Armenian heritage, native use of the Armenian language , or membership of the Armenian Apostolic Church . Ethnography begins in classical antiquity ; after early authors like Anaximander and Hecataeus of Miletus , Herodotus laid

9282-672: The foundation of both historiography and ethnography of the ancient world c.  480 BC . The Greeks had developed a concept of their own ethnicity, which they grouped under the name of Hellenes . Although there were exceptions, such as Macedonia, which was ruled by nobility in a way that was not typically Greek, and Sparta, which had an unusual ruling class, the ancient Greeks generally enslaved only non-Greeks due to their strong belief in ethnonationalism. The Greeks sometimes believed that even their lowest citizens were superior to any barbarian. In his Politics 1.2–7; 3.14, Aristotle even described barbarians as natural slaves in contrast to

9401-558: The genes. Examples of various approaches are primordialism, essentialism, perennialism, constructivism, modernism, and instrumentalism. Ethnicity is an important means by which people may identify with a larger group. Many social scientists, such as anthropologists Fredrik Barth and Eric Wolf , do not consider ethnic identity to be universal. They regard ethnicity as a product of specific kinds of inter-group interactions, rather than an essential quality inherent to human groups. The process that results in emergence of such identification

9520-505: The highest per capita income of Rs. 38,193. Khas Brahmins come next with an average income of Rs. 24,399, Adivasi Janajatis ranks third with an average income of Rs. 15,630, Dalit Rs. 12,114 and Muslim ranks the lowest, Rs.11,014' The democratic transitions also failed to be inclusive management and functioning governance mainly because government was unable to understand and articulate the spirit of all Nepalese people irrespective of their caste, gender, ethnicity, and religion. In this process

9639-459: The hills and Madhesis in the plains. The social structure of caste-origin Hill Hindu or Khas groups is simple compared to the other two societies, reflecting only three groups in hierarchy, with the distinct absence of the Vaishya and Shudra varnas. Much of the previously animist/tribal Khas population of the western Nepal region acquired the 'Chhetri' status in the 1850s with the proclamation by

9758-527: The house of the village elder. The art in painting is thought to be related to the creation of the universe. In the eastern Terai, Tharu people celebrate Jur Sital on the first day of the year in the month of Vaisakha by sprinkling water on each other. The elders put water on the forehead and head of the young ones with blessing, while the young people put water on the feet of the elders to pay respect. Compatriots sprinkle water on each other’s body. Tharu women of central and eastern Nepal celebrate Jitiya , which

9877-433: The kernel of a nation which must be defended in times of conflict, or in iconic figures such as Britannia or Marianne . Ethnicity is used as a matter of cultural identity of a group, often based on shared ancestry, language, and cultural traditions, while race is applied as a taxonomic grouping, based on physical similarities among groups. Race is a more controversial subject than ethnicity, due to common political use of

9996-437: The land. The Tharu people became bonded labourers in a system also known as Kamaiya . In 1854, Jung Bahadur Rana enforced the so-called Muluki Ain , a General Code, in which both Hindu and non-Hindu castes were classified based on their habits of food and drink. Tharu people were categorized as "Paani Chalne Masinya Matwali", i.e., touchable enslavable alcohol drinking group, together with several other ethnic minorities. In

10115-630: The late 1950s, the World Health Organization supported the Nepalese government in eradicating malaria in the forests of the central Terai. Following the malaria eradication program using DDT in the 1960s, a large and heterogeneous non-Tharu population from the Nepali hills, Bhutan , Sikkim and India settled in the region. In the western Terai, many Tharu families lost the land, which they used to cultivate, to these immigrants and were forced to work as Kamaiya. In Chitwan, after

10234-525: The late 1st century BC to the early 1st century AD. The Tabaqat-i Nasiri chronicle of the Islamic world contains records of an expedition by Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji into Kamrup region between Gauda and Tibet in 1205 AD and refers to the resident people as Kunch, today's Koch people , Mej/Meg today's Mech people and Tiharu as having mongoloid appearances. These people impressed

10353-654: The latinate people since the late Middle English period. In Early Modern English and until the mid-19th century, ethnic was used to mean heathen or pagan (in the sense of disparate "nations" which did not yet participate in the Christian ecumene ), as the Septuagint used ta ethne 'the nations' to translate the Hebrew goyim "the foreign nations, non-Hebrews, non-Jews". The Greek term in early antiquity ( Homeric Greek ) could refer to any large group,

10472-424: The left outs were oppressed class (Dalits), women, the poorest of the poor, powerless and the second class citizen and indigenous nationalities (Adivasi Janajatis). In Nepal, high castes dominate 91.2% among the prominent position in politics and bureaucracy. The Dalits who constitute 12.8 percent of the total population of the country have no representation in the higher echelons of power' (Gurung, H. 2006). Similarly,

10591-485: The marginalized status of people of color in the United States to their inherent biological inferiority, he attributed it to their failure to assimilate into American culture. They could become equal if they abandoned their inferior cultures. Michael Omi and Howard Winant 's theory of racial formation directly confronts both the premises and the practices of ethnicity theory. They argue in Racial Formation in

10710-483: The modernist understanding of ethnicity as proposed by Ernest Gellner and Benedict Anderson see nations and nationalism as developing with the rise of the modern state system in the 17th century. They culminated in the rise of "nation-states" in which the presumptive boundaries of the nation coincided (or ideally coincided) with state boundaries. Thus, in the West, the notion of ethnicity, like race and nation , developed in

10829-423: The natural environment. The pantheon of their gods comprises a large number of deities that live in the forest. They are asked for support before entering the forest. Tharus have been influenced by Hinduism for several centuries. However, since the 1990s, some Tharu groups in the Nepal Terai converted to Buddhism in the wake of ethnic movements for social inclusion and against the religious hierarchy imposed by

10948-485: The overthrow of the Nepali monarchy and move towards a federal republic, ethnicity and caste have taken center stage – the indigenous peoples ( Adivasi Janajati ) who make up a third of the country having been guaranteed rights that have not yet been fulfilled. There is an observable reaction to this among certain Khas Brahmin and Chhetri groups, seeking to prevent group-based rights from becoming an important factor in

11067-833: The overthrow of the Panchayat system in Nepal in 1990, the Tharu ethnic association Tharu Kalyankari Sabha joined the umbrella organisation of ethnic groups, a predecessor of the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities . In July 2000, the Government of Nepal abolished the practice of bonded labour prevalent under the Kamaiya system and declared loan papers illegal. Kamaiya families were thus enfranchised from debts supposedly incurred, but were also rendered homeless and jobless. Bonded labour shifted to children who work in other households for food for themselves and their families, but rarely with access to school education. During

11186-551: The parent group. Conversely, formerly separate ethnicities can merge to form a panethnicity and may eventually merge into one single ethnicity . Whether through division or amalgamation, the formation of a separate ethnic identity is referred to as ethnogenesis . Although both organic and performative criteria characterise ethnic groups, debate in the past has dichotomised between primordialism and constructivism. Earlier 20th-century "Primordialists" viewed ethnic groups as real phenomena whose distinct characteristics have endured since

11305-450: The problem of racism became the sole responsibility of already disadvantaged communities. It was assumed that if a Black or Latino community was not "making it" by the standards that had been set by whites, it was because that community did not hold the right values or beliefs, or were stubbornly resisting dominant norms because they did not want to fit in. Omi and Winant's critique of ethnicity theory explains how looking to cultural defect as

11424-433: The public, political sphere, they are upheld within the private, family sphere to a great extent. It is here that women act not just as biological reproducers but also as "cultural carriers", transmitting knowledge and enforcing behaviors that belong to a specific collectivity. Women also often play a significant symbolic role in conceptions of nation or ethnicity, for example in the notion that "women and children" constitute

11543-571: The result of inherited traits and tendencies. With Weber's introduction of the idea of ethnicity as a social construct, race and ethnicity became more divided from each other. In 1950, the UNESCO statement " The Race Question ", signed by some of the internationally renowned scholars of the time (including Ashley Montagu , Claude Lévi-Strauss , Gunnar Myrdal , Julian Huxley , etc.), said: National, religious, geographic, linguistic and cultural groups do not necessarily coincide with racial groups: and

11662-488: The result of two opposite events, either the recent creation of state borders at variance with traditional tribal territories, or the recent immigration of ethnic minorities into a former nation-state. Examples for the first case are found throughout Africa , where countries created during decolonization inherited arbitrary colonial borders, but also in European countries such as Belgium or United Kingdom . Examples for

11781-452: The rich design is rooted in devotional activities and passed on from one generation to the next, occasionally introducing contemporary elements such as a bus or an airplane. Tharu communities in different parts of Nepal and India do not share the same language. Several speak various endemic Tharu languages . In western Nepal and adjacent parts of India, Tharus speak variants of Hindi , Urdu and Awadhi . In and near central Nepal, they speak

11900-588: The second case are countries such as Netherlands , which were relatively ethnically homogeneous when they attained statehood but have received significant immigration in the 17th century and even more so in the second half of the 20th century. States such as the United Kingdom , France and Switzerland comprised distinct ethnic groups from their formation and have likewise experienced substantial immigration, resulting in what has been termed " multicultural " societies, especially in large cities. The states of

12019-420: The source of inequality ignores the "concrete sociopolitical dynamics within which racial phenomena operate in the U.S." It prevents critical examination of the structural components of racism and encourages a "benign neglect" of social inequality. In some cases, especially those involving transnational migration or colonial expansion, ethnicity is linked to nationality. Anthropologists and historians, following

12138-407: The state or its constituents. In the 20th century, people began to argue that conflicts among ethnic groups or between members of an ethnic group and the state can and should be resolved in one of two ways. Some, like Jürgen Habermas and Bruce Barry, have argued that the legitimacy of modern states must be based on a notion of political rights of autonomous individual subjects. According to this view,

12257-441: The state should not acknowledge ethnic, national or racial identity but rather instead enforce political and legal equality of all individuals. Others, like Charles Taylor and Will Kymlicka , argue that the notion of the autonomous individual is itself a cultural construct. According to this view, states must recognize ethnic identity and develop processes through which the particular needs of ethnic groups can be accommodated within

12376-512: The study of ethnicity was dominated by two distinct debates until recently. According to Eriksen , these debates have been superseded, especially in anthropology , by scholars' attempts to respond to increasingly politicized forms of self-representation by members of different ethnic groups and nations. This is in the context of debates over multiculturalism in countries, such as the United States and Canada, which have large immigrant populations from many different cultures, and post-colonialism in

12495-524: The term in social studies in the 1980s and 1990s. Barth went further than Weber in stressing the constructed nature of ethnicity. To Barth, ethnicity was perpetually negotiated and renegotiated by both external ascription and internal self-identification. Barth's view is that ethnic groups are not discontinuous cultural isolates or logical a priori to which people naturally belong. He wanted to part with anthropological notions of cultures as bounded entities, and ethnicity as primordialist bonds, replacing it with

12614-446: The term. Ramón Grosfoguel (University of California, Berkeley) argues that "racial/ethnic identity" is one concept and concepts of race and ethnicity cannot be used as separate and autonomous categories. Before Weber (1864–1920), race and ethnicity were primarily seen as two aspects of the same thing. Around 1900 and before, the primordialist understanding of ethnicity predominated: cultural differences between peoples were seen as being

12733-406: The total of South Asian mtDNA haplogroups ranges from 31.6% to 67.5% in the Tharu while the total of East Asian mtDNA haplogroups ranges from 32.5% to 68.4% depending on the Tharu group studied. A genetic survey of Tharus from Nepal, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh showed that they have both a South Asian and an East Asian human genetic origin. The Tharu are famous for their ability to survive in

12852-564: The two families. Among the Rana Tharus in Bardiya District , it is also custom to arrange marriage of a daughter in exchange for getting a bride for a son or vice versa. Parents give particular attention to the working capacity of the groom and bride, rather than the economic situation of the in-law family. Polygamous marriages are also customary among Tharu people, with rich land holders marrying between two and five women. In

12971-610: The unclean castes outside of it, but it is also clearly divided among the upper and lower Buddhist castes. Currently, Newars are divided into groups of over 25 occupational caste categories who share a common language (mother-tongue) Nepal Bhasa or speak Nepali. The social structure of the caste-origin Madhesi Hindu groups is complex, reflecting four varna groups with distinct hierarchical structure within them. These various cultural groups belong to four distinct language groups: Maithili , Bajika, Bhojpuri , and Awadhi . In 2001

13090-468: The usage of the term "ethnic" in the ordinary language of Great Britain and the United States , Wallman noted The term "ethnic" popularly connotes "[race]" in Britain, only less precisely, and with a lighter value load. In North America, by contrast, "[race]" most commonly means color, and "ethnics" are the descendants of relatively recent immigrants from non-English-speaking countries. "[Ethnic]"

13209-419: The variation than "Ethnicity, Caste or Religious belonging" – i.e. people's perception of their own social situation has more to do with geography and objective social class, than with their association with the groups that the state has based its internal social policy on. Participation of Khas-Brahmins in the civil service is 41.3% in spite of its population size of 12.2%. The population of Newars (all castes)

13328-527: The water unacceptable to the water acceptable community within the Tarai origin Hindu caste groups." The Nepali civil code Muluki Ain was commissioned by Jung Bahadur Rana after his European tour and enacted in 1854. It was rooted in traditional Hindu Law and codified social practices for several centuries in Nepal. The law also comprised Prāyaścitta (avoidance and removal of sin) and Ācāra (the customary law of different castes and communities). It

13447-448: The ways in which race can complicate a community's interactions with social and political structures, especially upon contact. Assimilation – shedding the particular qualities of a native culture for the purpose of blending in with a host culture – did not work for some groups as a response to racism and discrimination, though it did for others. Once the legal barriers to achieving equality had been dismantled,

13566-488: The western Terai region of Nepal in which they venerate Bhima and offers prayers to the Surya , aspiring to embody Bhima's strength in their traditions. Tharus have a rich and diverse food culture. Their cuisine varies depending on the region they inhabit. Ghonghi is a fresh water snail dish eaten by sucking the snail from its shell. It is served with rice and this combination, for indigenous people in Terai , had been

13685-499: The western Terai, Rana Tharu traditionally live in Badaghar called longhouses with big families of up to 31 members from four generations and between one and eight married couples. The household members pool their labour force, contribute their income, share the expenditure and use one kitchen. The eldest male person in charge of Badaghar households and associated land holdings is called Mukhiya . He assigns tasks to family members,

13804-442: The world have been incorporated into a global economy: The opposing interests that divide the working classes are further reinforced through appeals to "racial" and "ethnic" distinctions. Such appeals serve to allocate different categories of workers to rungs on the scale of labor markets, relegating stigmatized populations to the lower levels and insulating the higher echelons from competition from below. Capitalism did not create all

13923-483: Was a turning point in ethnic studies. The consequences of Nazi racism discouraged essentialist interpretations of ethnic groups and race. Ethnic groups came to be defined as social rather than biological entities. Their coherence was attributed to shared myths, descent, kinship , a common place of origin, language, religion, customs, and national character. So, ethnic groups are conceived as mutable rather than stable, constructed in discursive practices rather than written in

14042-476: Was an attempt to include the entire Hindu as well as non-Hindu population of Nepal of that time into a single hierarchic civic code from the perspective of the Khas rulers. Terai and Newar Brahmins and Kshatriyas were officially placed below their Khas equivalents. Similarly, serious limitations and oversights of this code include the complete exclusion of the large middle-ranking Terai groups. Most notable contradiction

14161-407: Was contrary to the prevailing naturalist belief of the time, which held that socio-cultural and behavioral differences between peoples stemmed from inherited traits and tendencies derived from common descent, then called "race". Another influential theoretician of ethnicity was Fredrik Barth , whose "Ethnic Groups and Boundaries" from 1969 has been described as instrumental in spreading the usage of

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